Woods
by lennyxperaltiago
Summary: Howard Wolowitz. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz. Were they destined to meet in their twenties? Or was a magnet drawing them closer before they reach the age of ten? (AU) Please R&R
1. chapter 1

Howard Wolowitz, aged only nine-years-old, was currently allowed out at the woods by his grandmothers house. It was only a matter of time though until his own mother didn't allow him out anymore.

He had always been interested in space and astronomy, but he did find something intriguing about the diameter of the sticks that you could find incredibly easy in this wooded area, and how they altered between one to another.

Being outside also escaped him from the real world, where he would come home to find his parents fighting over little things.

Howard quickly lifted his head from the giant pile of sticks he was carrying in his tiny arms, which were always called 'weak' from the bullies at school. He tried to ignore the noise, as he thought it was older kids messing around behind the trees. Until he heard it again.

He cautiously walked around from the back of one of the trees, trying not to be seen. He noticed these four incredibly tall boys, that could of been anywhere from the sixth to the ninth grade, holding up a pink backpack, above of a much smaller girl.

"Give it back!" The little girl screamed, with a very high-pitched voice, whilst jumping as high as her little legs would allow her to.

The four mischievous boys continued to laugh, whilst passing the bag to each other.

Howard had experienced this before at school but had to deal with it alone. And he wasn't one just to walk away. On the other hand, he usually had his mother with him.

He took a deep breath and slowly walked towards the boys, and the _'damsel in distress'_. His father had used that expression before to describe when he met his mother. He always said, _"She was a damsel in distress as someone had stolen her sandwich. I was there to help."_

"Give it back to her." Howard shouted at the top of his voice, but because he was scared, it all came out mumbled.

"What was that?" The oldest asked, before being handed the bag.

"You heard me, give it back to her." He spoke up, clenching his fists to stop them from shaking.

"It looks like the little breadhead wants us to give back the bag to the little leprechaun." Another said, obviously making fun of the girl's height and his haircut.

Howard continued to yell at the boys, as his confidence built up. Suddenly, the one holding the bag, crouched down and let go. The young girl quickly snatched it back and began running. Howard stood there awkwardly, looking at the boys, and then down the way the mysterious girl ran.

"Now there's no one to stop us from kicking your ass." The oldest threatened, still on the floor.

Howard then was faced with a fight-or-flight situation. He chose his preferred favorite, flight.

He quickly ran past all the trees, using the same path that the girl had used. He kept going as fast as he could, in case the large boys chose to follow him. He peered his head around and stopped running, but continued at a jogging pace.

"Hey, over here." A high-pitched voice came from behind the trees which made him stop in his tracks.

Howard slowly joined the tiny girl behind one of the trees. She told him to keep low for a moment. He did what he was told and knelt down next to her.

A few moments later, the large steps of the four boys quickly came closer and closer. The girl put her finger up against his lips to stop him from screaming out. They both remained silent as the sound of the boys running faded away.

The young girl quietly got Howard to his feet and slowly lead him away from the path.

"Thank you." She smiled, as Howard was catching his breath, as that was the furthest he had ever ran in his life.

"You're welcome." He answered back, with a giant grin on his face. "I'm Howard, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Howard. I'm Bernadette." She introduced.

Howard smiled over at her. Bernadette wrapped her fingers around his arm and gently pulled him to the side, making sure no one could see them, especially those boys.

"I don't think those boys knew what they were talking about when they called you a leprechaun." Howard grinned, trying to make her feel better.

"Thanks, but you don't need to disagree with them. I've been called that since my first day of kindergarten. It isn't a big deal anymore." She lied, knowing deep down that it did bother her.

"Oh." Howard sighed, "That was my first time being called _'breadhead'_ , but it wasn't my first time being chased." He added, using his hands as air quotes.

Bernadette laughed silently before shaking her head, "Me neither."

Howard took Bernadette's hand and slowly walked through the woods, avoiding the boys in the best way they could. He kept leading her until they got to the opening. Bernadette looked around and asked what he was doing.

"We couldn't stay in there forever." Howard replied, looking around for any adults. "How did you get here?" He asked.

"I snuck out. I live just down the road. What about you?"

"Oh, my grandmother's sick, so my parents and I are visiting her."

"I only leave because I can't stand being around my siblings. It's a way to get as far away to the chaos as possible." She sighed, looking around.

"You're lucky, having brothers and sisters. I don't have any."

"If anyone's lucky, it's you. I hate my siblings, they're so annoying."

Howard laughed at Bernadette's exasperated sigh.

 **"HOWARD!"** A large, deep voice came from down by the houses.

Howard looked down at his feet as Bernadette looked over in confusion.

"Is that your dad calling you?" Bernadette wondered as Howard continued to stare at the concrete ground.

"No, it's my mom." He sighed.

Bernadette snorted quietly and tried her hardest not to laugh. "I'm sorry, your mom?"

Howard didn't answer. He just nodded. Bernadette apologized again, feeling bad that she had made fun of his mother's voice.

"If you're leaving, I might have to as well." She sighed, before looking up at the road up a small hill.

Howard remained quiet. He looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back before she ran ahead. Howard looked down again, waiting for his parents to catch up with him.

He heard footsteps again, before he looked up. He only just saw Bernadette's sweet smile as the sun behind her was shining brighter that it had ever done before.

"Thank you for distracting them." Bernadette whispered, before giving him a small peck on his cheek. "You're a real hero."

Howard watched Bernadette run up the small hill, as he still felt her soft lips against his blushing cheeks. He had never felt this way towards anyone before.


	2. chapter 2

_**A/N: Bernadette's school isn't a real one. I have made it up.**_

* * *

Bernadette placed her favorite book into her backpack. She was hoping to stay out in the woods longer than she would usually, but she was certain she would make it back in time for tea.

Being a mere four feet tall, successfully sneaking out couldn't be easier, especially because all of Bernadette's siblings would occupy her parents. At the age of eight-years-old, she had been sneaking out from her parents for now a year and a half, and hadn't been caught once.

As she approached the front door, her strategy was to keep low. She passed the living room to see her mother occupied with changing her youngest brother's diaper, so she wouldn't be a problem. Her father on the other hand, was entertaining himself with a beer in one hand, and the TV remote in the other.

She waved her hand over at her parents, who were oblivious to what was going on, before quietly shutting the door, making sure she didn't give away what she was doing.

In case her parents had heard the door, Bernadette didn't stand around. She immediately ran forward, keeping low as not to be seen by the neighbors, as if they saw her, they would immediately tell her parents.

When she became out of the neighbors view, she transferred to a speed walking pace.

Suddenly, as she stepped off the curb and into the woods, she felt as if she belonged there. As if that was her home. She felt as if her home was a prison, overcrowded and loud, and that the woods was her way of escaping.

She leant her back up against one of the trees, whilst retrieving the book from her bag. She immediately opened it to the correct page, and continued reading.

After a moment of silent reading, she poked her head up to the snapping of sticks behind her. She carefully placed the book away, as a noise behind her meant trouble. She cautiously stood up, whilst quickly forcing her arms through the arm strap of her backpack.

She had a gut-feeling to go up against the person, as she knew it wasn't an animal. The force was too strong. But she knew that, if it was anything like a few weeks ago, they could take her down easily.

She carefully peered her head around the back of the tree, to get a better look. She smiled as she noticed it was Howard.

"What are the chances?" She questioned to herself, keeping her voice low.

She began thinking about the chances of them running into each other again. She was lucky to have him save her from those eighth graders last time, but what brought them together again?

Bernadette began hesitating whether to approach him or not. _What would she say? How would she greet him? A friendly hello, or a jump scare?_

"Bernadette?" Howard gasped, while his sweet voice broke her large concentration. "What are you doing here?" He asked, placing his pile of sticks on the mossy path.

"I live down the road. The real question is, What are you doing here?" She quizzed, slowly approaching him from behind the tree.

"My grandmother isn't looking so good, so we're back down here." He sighed, whilst trying to keep positive around her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is she going to be okay?"

"Not likely. I'm just getting my mind off of it." He smiled.

 _'Wow, he can control himself. If my grandmother was in the same situation, I would be a blubbering mess.'_ Bernadette thought to herself, whilst smiling over at Howard.

She asked what he was doing with the giant pile of sticks. He didn't answer, but he did begin leading her past the thin trunk trees.

She immediately dropped her jaw as she saw a hand-made den that was beautifully decorated with the old-dried leaves, that were dropped by the fall breeze. The petals of Dahlia and Iris scattered across the front of the den. The scent of Rose Spray and Lily was surrounding the area.

"How long did you work on this?" Bernadette questioned, still amazed by his creativity.

"I've been in here all day, but most of the time was collecting the supplies." He mentioned, coming across manly, especially for his age, which Bernadette was still yet to discover.

"Howard, this is beautiful." She pointed out, with a giant grin on her face.

Howard blushed and pushed it aside, as if it wasn't a big deal. Even though he knew it was the longest he had ever spent on a project.

"What gave you the idea to make this?" Bernadette wondered, desperate to know the answer.

"I wanted to make it for you." He smiled, causing Bernadette to look over at him in confusion. "You said last time that you like getting away from your parents. I wanted to give you a special place to go."

Bernadette felt her eyes well up at his incredibly kind gesture. She sniffed as she felt the urge to hug him. Howard saw that she was crying and immediately thought it was because she didn't like it.

"I can take it down." He offered.

Bernadette shook her head. "No, I love it." She blubbered, her voice just able to be understood. "Thank you." She added.

She quickly approached him and hugged him tightly, so much so that he began struggling to breathe.

"You're welcome." He muttered, those being the only words he could get out.

* * *

Bernadette was still astonished by Howard's masterpiece. She knew that she was desperate to know more about him, but whenever she went to ask, her little shy shadow pulled her to the side.

"What school do you go to?" Howard asked, before offering her the extra sandwich that he had brought with him.

Bernadette kindly shook her head and declined his offer. "Saint Mary's Catholic." She mumbled, "What about you?"

He sighed, as if he didn't enjoy talking about this topic. "Weizmann Day."

"Oh, I've never heard of that one." She smiled, hoping he would continue.

"I doesn't matter anyways. I hate it there."

Bernadette nodded, agreeing with him. She had only known Howard a short amount of time, but she already noticed that he was the kind of person who would be picked on by random bullies, for their own pleasure.

She built up her confidence, fighting off her shadow, before asking, "So, how old are you?"

"I'm nine." He sighed, before asking her the same question.

"Eight." She answered back, feeling upset about him not being the same age as her, even though it was a stupid thing to be sad about.

Howard smiled over at her the same way he did when they first met. She uncontrollably found herself smiling back. It was cut short as she glimpsed her watch.

 _17:52_

She knew she only had five minutes to get back into her bedroom without her parents knowing. At this time her father would still be engorged with the TV, and her mother would be in the kitchen.

She packed away her things in a hurry, as the longer she's at home before tea, the more homework she could get done before her parents question her about it at the table.

"I'm sorry it's quick with me leaving, but I don't want to annoy my parents." She sighed, as she made it obvious she would rather stay than go home.

Howard nodded over at her and walked out of the den area with her.

"I hope we see each other again." She smiled, honestly hoping that they would run in to each other unintentionally again.


	3. chapter 3

Howard walked past the trees as he hoped he would find Bernadette in the den he made for her. It had been a while since he had last seen her, about six weeks to be precise. His grandmother was going through a roller-coaster of treatment and he seemed to be unsure about if she wasn't going to make it or not. But the more frequent trips down to Yorba meant that he could see Bernadette more.

He was a little disappointed once he had found the den empty. He guessed he was upset because there was a longer gap this time, and he missed spending time with his one and only friend, which lived annoyingly about an hour away.

He sat on the tree stump and decided to wait around, to see if she turned up. Luckily he had brought his game boy with him, that had already been released for about six-years, so everyone in his area thought they were out-of-date.

He got his hopes up after the sound of sticks snapping lifted him out of the gaming world. He was obviously hoping that it was Bernadette.

"Are you, Howard?" A tall, built-up man asked, walking through the den entrance.

Howard, now petrified on how intimidating the man was, slowly nodded, giving the man what he was there for.

"I want you to stop coming here. It's showing my daughter bad habits. We caught her sneaking out." He said, getting a step closer to him. "If I hear your name again in one of my daughter's sentences, I will track you down." He threatened, as Howard started to get the vibe that the guy might of been Bernadette's father.

"Hey, what you doing?" Another man asked, Howard recognizing his voice. "Back away from him."

Bernadette's father angrily turned to the second man, and placed his hand on his belt, which had a small hand pistol attached to it. Howard's father backed away a few steps, before calling Howard to his arms.

"I'm sorry." Howard apologized, still shaken up about it.

Howard's father leant down in from of his son's face and mentioned that he didn't need to apologize, and that he didn't do anything wrong.

"Did nothing wrong?!" Bernadette's father snorted, "He's been encouraging my eight-year-old daughter to sneak out of the house."

"He wouldn't do that. He's not even ten!" Howard's father snapped back, letting go of Howard's shoulder.

"Oh, please. Just because he's only a little older, doesn't mean he can't already be taking advantage of her.

Howard carefully edged away, getting out of the side exit he had made in case of an emergency. After getting out of the sight of the two fighting fathers, he made a run for it.

Without watching, he bumped into a tree that he swore wasn't there two seconds previously.

He thudded to the floor with a sharp pain in his head, front and back. He tried to sit up, before being forced back down by a familiar smile.

"Don't sit up. Stay down." Bernadette insisted, placing his head on her knees.

"You shouldn't be here." Howard spoke, saying the first thing that came to his head.

Bernadette blew it off, whilst caring for his head. She noticed a small red mark underneath the end of his hair, just above his eyebrow. She allowed him to rest for a second before leaning him in a way so she could check the back of his head.

"See, exactly what I was saying!" Bernadette's father yelled, spotting them.

"No, Daddy, it's not what you think. He hit his head!" She stammered, her voice even higher than usual.

"Yeah, that's what he made you believe." He snapped, glaring over at Howard.

"He did! I saw it!" She yelled back at him, feeling a little insulted that he would believe that she would fall for something like that.

Bernadette continued to have a yelling match with her father, who was getting madder by the minute. Howard's father bent down to make sure he was okay, before leaving him to get his mother.

"Daddy, I would never do that! I'm not some stupid girl! I can take care of myself!" Bernadette snapped, as her father was clearly getting red with anger.

"if that's how you feel, then sure. I won't help you any longer." Bernadette's father lied, knowing that in a few days, she'd be begging for help with something.

"Good! Cause I don't need the help anymore."

Bernadette felt something relieving about the whole conversation as she watched her father walk away. She turned to Howard, who was still leant up against the tree, and almost squealed with happiness.

"Bernadette, that was amazing!" Howard insisted, still holding his hand against the back of his head.

"I know!" She squeaked, incredibly happy for herself.

Howard's father returned with his mother with him. Debbie immediately scooped him up and butterfly kissed him, embarrassing him in front of Bernadette, who continued to kneel against the floor, surprised on how fast Howard had been picked up.

"Mar, I feel so much better now. Can I stay in here for a while?" Howard asked, after his mother had placed him carefully to the floor.

"No, You should stay with us, buddy. Just in case." Howard's father interjected, before his mother could get a say.

Howard moaned quietly, before being lead off by his mother. He knew deep down that that could of been the last time he was going to see Bernadette, because of her father's stern words. But if her father meant what he said, they could eventually run into each other again.

* * *

 _ **If the internet is right, Happy Big Bang Theory Day! :)**_


End file.
